Baseball game



De;2s,194s. M. c. MEYER 2,457,168

BASEBALL GAME I Filed April 19, 1946 ZSheets-Sheet 1.

F" v W2 IN V EN TOR.

Maximilian C. eyer BY v ATTORNEYJ' Dec. 28, 1948. M. c. MEYER 2,457,168

BASEBALL GAME v Filed April 19, 1946 2 Sheets-$heet 2 SINGLE SINGLE R F INVEN TOR. Maximilian 6'. Meyer BY I Mw A TTORNEYS Patented Dec. 28, 1948 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE,

BASEBALL GAME Maximilian 0. Meyer, Brooklyn, N. Y.

Application April 19, 1946, Serial No. 663,523

My invention relates to a novel educational and recreational baseball game and more particularly my invention relates to a baseball game that is mechanically operated but is substantially entirely governed by the discretional acts 3 4 Claims. (01. 273-93) the playing of the game basically depends on the team that exercises the superior baseball l judgment and strategy will have the advantage over its opponent in the same way that that superior judgment and strategy will constitute an advantage in the ordinary game of baseball.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a baseball game in which the moves are controlled so as to prevent predetermination of the play.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a novel baseball game that embodiess in mechanical form a true reincarnation of baseball as played on the diamond.

t is a further object of my invention to provide a novel mechanicalbaseball game in which a pitcher can exercise his own discretionv and present to the batter a variety of pitches according to his judgment.

It is a further object of my present invention to provide a novel mechanical baseball game in which the batter can, through the exercise of his own discretion, decide whether to hit at or take the ball delivered by the pitcher.

It is a further object of my invention to provide a mechanical baseball game in which the batter can exercise his judgment as to the kind of pitch that the pitcher is delivering and govern his oWn response accordingly as is the practice in the playing of the actual game ofbaseball. i I

It is a further object of, my invention t c-provide a mechanical game of baseball in which various moves can be made effectively or which correspond generally to the baseball strategy in the ordinary game of baseball.

It is a further object of my invention to provide a novel mechanical game in which a ball may be delivered into a rotating element comprising a series of separate compartments in such a manner that the ball will remain within that element and quickly settle in one compartment thereof.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide ball actuating means so spaced as to prevent the opposing player from predetermining the batters operations and from allowing the batter to predetermine the pitcher's operations.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a batting device or a means for knocking the ball from the slot which is so constructed as to give the ball a pronounced spin as it is knocked from the slot into the rotating bowl.

This application is a continuation-in-part of application Serial No. 587,071, filed April 7, 1945, which has become Patent No. 2,457,167, patented December 28, 194.8.

I accomplish these objects by a mechanical game in which a batting stand is provided on a board adjacent to a rotatable Wheel. The pitcher places a ball, while concealed from the batter, into a selected hole or slot according to whether he wishes to pitch a ball or a strike, and he may also elect whether the ball will be an incurve or an outcurve. A batter can either decide to hit at the ball, or to take the ball. If he takes the ball then he is credited with the ball or charged with a strike, depending on Whether the pitcher delivered a ball or strike. If he strikes at the ball, then he must judge as to whether the pitcher delivered an incurve, straight ball or an outcurve, and tap a corresponding batting device. If he guesses incorrectly, he is charged with a strike because the bat will not contact the ball. If he guesses correctly, then the bat discharges the ball from the opening into the rotating wheel, where, as in ordinary baseball, upon the ball being hit out into the held, a safe hit or an out may result.

Both the pitchers actions and the batters actions are determined by the number of strikes, balls, the outs, and the presence of men on bases.

The side at bat may elect to attempt to steal ,when their runner is on base and are provided with means for determining whether or not such steals are successful.

Strategy in judgment that plays so important a part in ordinary baseball, plays an equally important part in this game.

The game itself and the baseball judgment and the strategy that may be exercised in the playing of the game will best be understood from consideration of the drawings and the specific description which here follows:

Figure 1 is a plan view of the game of my in vention.

Figure 2 is a side View of" the game of my invention.

Figure 3 is a cross sectional view, taken along. line 33 of Figure 1, of the game of my in vention.

Figures 4 and 5 are cross sectionalviews of the batting stand of my invention.

Referring now more specifically to th eidraw ings, Figure 1 shows a rotating wheel l centrally balanced at H so as to.rotate as shownih Figure 3 by means of a bearing surface l2 on which rests the center cap- I l, the-bearing I-Z resting on a; seat i' oil'tlji top'of a central pin 14 secured to the baseboardtlfi" by mean's 'ofi a fastening device H. The wheel-l ll is adapt'e dt'othe rnanua lly'spunand rotates freely qn=the bearing surface l2.

A's shown-inFigure 2; there is located on the rear of theba'se board lG'a-battingstand I 8 which comprises a pitching side generallydenote'das 4 9 and a batting sidegenerally"denoted as 2 H; The pitcher side l9 comprises a cavity in whiclifare disposed three openings 2;! 2 2'; and 23. Asshown in theyiew of Figure '21 tliisbPeningQsucH' as 22, is such that whefn the' ball 25' is dispose N opening 252 it can be propelled by'serew head aidjustably mounted at the eridof the bat which is pi'votally connected at 2 f8ft o thestand l 8 so that it may be impelled upwardlyto ejeet the ball from the cavity-2 2." This-is ade scrip I the centralball' propelling mechanism'and on 'q sue th of a e s m la r pellin nabsnisms designatedas' 3l-jandt3 2.

Th s w he .256: is adi siebl e d in the end of the lcat 21 so' that th e'imDB QP rl ,qf

the screw head 26 on the ball' 2l l' c an'be so ad-- justed-th at theball-lz on being'imp elled will land within the side wall 36' of the wheel ill so that t wil snw l 'cometo r s in o e of empa nents 31 of the wheel The bat isso' conirl t e w st ik t 'ba' an upwardl s an ing blow and'thereby give'it a pronounce d 'spin so tha h t nd e heiblei t bolm lq bf th m m min miz d .des he an .Q' th c e d v zfii sev e Wi h rqfbe ls a t is yetheihal a r ate Whsns s un ili ib l tend nt .2 low l. b.ei. h membe l'fl ih t an lbe n .s 'lh hel my .bgounqei in d ec i9n owin to th ta t a i lbetiqm u e .o me ber it .i unev n. th r is ons a fllei s. e h go a lb 'bo ins ba boun i w of th'mem er li T h e top walls of the mflber l8lslope dowrfi we rdl ow rd h cavities 21. 2.2 and .23 a hown in do ed vl ne' 91:92 O is. 2- .B thi construction the pitcher is'further abl 'e to cqnceal his movements as he canidep' it the ball onzthe ridge 13 between any twocavitiesfland permit the vballfto roll toone side or'theother.

The side wall ,35 of the -Wheel ll] has on its inside faceflcertain designations which are to be taken as controlling the progress of the game an ar d ter ne b imp s t o th ba as it comes to rest in one or the t. erof the ,compa tme 3 Fo example e ba r i c ited with one base hit to center field when the onof.

eth c-batter who stands and views only the batter side gt of the batting stand 18. The itcher then places the-"ball'M in either the opening 2 l, 22 or 23; bhe battenattempts to guess just as a batter in baseball attempts to guess the nature of the "men delivered.

His judgment in thisrespect is determined by the previous actions of the pitcher, the number ofv men on base and the-- number of balls and stiike'sixagainst-him.

Having decided what-kinderball has been delivered, hestrikes either. nowqfil; 3! or 32, and if he guessed incorrectlyand the ball-is not in the corresponding opening on the pitching side thena" strike is ecalled. against him. If he guesses correctly then; as shown in Figure 2, the ball is spun through the air andf'alls. into the; revolving wheel l llif Itxcomes" to: rest .in:,a compartments? .thereof'andbyxthe legend on the Wall of that compartment. the result is. determined; All the rule's of baseballiarei employed and followed from the indivi'dual playszwhi'chresult;.

As 'shown in-Figurei5', certaindouble' plays are indicated on' thei'wheel by, for example, D. P. 64- 3; Thisindicates that the shortstop No; 6 has called a grounder and then thrower-t9 the second'ba'seman No. 4' at secondbase forcing out the 'r'u nn er from first base. The second baseman N'o. lk-throws to' first baseman'Noi i-i retiring'jthe batter. This is effective only whenzabase runner is onfirst-basa The ordinary plays-are indicated asfor example by 4'-'-3 when these'cond baseman catches-a grounder hit by the-batterand throws the batterout at firstbaseNo; 3. 11-3 means pitcher No. 1- catches a grounder and vthrows the runneroutat firstbase.

The players arelsequentially numbered as in ordinarybaseballscorin'g; I

A base runner may attempt tov advance. after the outfielders catch and in that case.- the m'ai1king ontheoutside wall of. the: wheel as shown in Figure'l willfindicatiwhetherthe runner is safe orout, this beingfdeterminedby the .Safe or Out area indicated by 'the marker X.

The various rui'es' and plays that generally apply and take-place in baseball: are-employed. in

thisgame. whena single-is hit all men on'bases advancetwo bases; 'All men on base score when a double, triple 01' home' r'un ishit. Merl not involved in double playsadvancepne base only it to pass. If the batter s'wingsfand misses'with the pitohed'ballor a ms is to passyth esult Q the ie t fl 'i "de de b 'Y ar I h umpire) "'Which'points to either a block lettered .se e 9? 9. 1 2 the oute Wa l o t mafyiiig field'ofthewheel When-'it'stops revolving.

The pitcher moves the ball 25 in the A strike is declared when the ball is hit out 01' the revolving playing field which is regarded as a foul ball which is not called if it occurs for the third strike. I

The batter permits the ball to pass by raising his index finger instead of tipping one of the ball impellers.

To pitch an incurve the pitcher places the ball without indicating his placement in the right cavity of the battery box. To pitch an outcurve he places it in the left cavity. To pitch a fast straight ball he puts the ball in the center cavity.

The ball is deceptively introduced into the proper cavity so that the batter has no indication of where the ball is placed. The batter must tip his preferred bat While the field is revolving.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the novel principles of the invention disclosed herein in connection with the specific exemplifications thereof will suggest various other modifications and applications of the same. It is accordingly desired that in construing the breadth of the appended claims they shall not be limited to the specific exemplifications of the invention described herein.

I claim:

1. A baseball game comprising a rotatable wheel element containing a plurality of separate compartments adapted to receive a ball, a stand positioned adjacent to said wheel, said stand having a pitching side and a batting side, the pitching side facing said wheel, a plurality of openings located in said pitching side adapted to receive said ball, a separate means for each of said openings for impelling said ball located in said opening into the air with the proper force and direction so as to land said ball within said rotatable wheel element, said means for impelling said ball comprising a pivotally mounted lever arm one end of which extends into said opening and the other end of which extends beyond the batters side of the stand to form an actuating element, means for concealing said openings in said pitching side of said stand from said batting side, said means for impelling said ball comprising a means for adjusting the distance the end of the lever arm extends into the opening.

2. A baseball game comprising a rotatable Wheel element containing a plurality of separate compartments adapted to receive a ball, a stand positioned adjacent to said wheel, said stand having a pitching side and a batting side, the pitching side facing said wheel, a plurality of openings located in said stand on the pitching side thereof, said openings being adapted to receive said ball, the upper surface of said stand sloping upwardly from said openings so that the ball wherever placed on the stand will roll into one of the openings, a separate means for each of said openings for impelling said ball located in said opening into the air with the proper force and direction so as to land said ball within said rotatable wheel element, said means for impelling said ball comprising a pivotally mounted lever arm one end of which extends into said opening and the-other end of which extends beyond the batters side of the stand to form an actuating element, means for concealing said openings in said pitching side of said stand from said batting side, said means for impelling said ball comprising a means for adjusting the distance the end of the lever arm extends'into the opening.

3. A baseball game comprising a means containing a plurality of separate compartments adapted to receive a propelled ball, in combination with a stand positioned adjacent to said compartment means, said stand having a pitching side and a batting side, the pitching side facing said compartment means, a plurality of openings located in said pitching side adapted to receive said ball, a separate means for each of said openings for impelling said ball located in said opening into the air with the proper force and direction so as to propel said ball toward said compartment means, said means for impelling said ball comprising a pivotally mounted lever arm one end of which extends into said opening and the other end of which extends beyond the batters side of the stand to form an actuating element, means for concealing said openings in said pitching side of said stand from said batting side, said means for impelling said ball comprising a means for adjusting the distance the end of the lever arm extends into the opening.

4. A baseball game comp-risin a means containing a plurality of separate compartments adapted to receive a propelled ball, in combination with a stand positioned adjacent to said compartment means, said stand having a pitching side and a batting side, the pitching side facing said compartment means, a plurality of openings located in said pitching side adapted to receive said ball, a separate means for each of said openings for impelling said ball located in said opening into the air with the proper force and direction so as to propel said ball toward said compartment means, said means for impelling said ball comprising a pivotally mounted lever arm one end of which extends into said opening and the other end of which extends beyond the batters side of the stand to form an actuating element, means for concealing said openings in said pitching side of said stand from said batting side each of said means for impelling said ball comprising an intermediately pivoted bat-like structure, and said means for impelling said ball comprising a means for adjusting the distance the end of the lever arm extends into the opening,

MAXIMILIAN C. MEYER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,032,501 Pierman July 16, 1912 1,380,440 Tosso June '7, 1921 

